Re: [Harp-L] electro lounge



On Jan 4, 2009, at 1:51 PM, Bill wrote:

Joe
Do you think you could explain the situations in which you would use the B# and when you will use the 4/8 and 5/9 blow Cs and also when you will use what i suppose I should call the E#?

Thanks

Bill

Well Bill, it's been a long time since I had my sMo-joe working. but I'll try to remember. Keeping in mind that I have used the B# so long, it comes naturally to me. I guess it all started when I noticed that first of all, I was eating up the 4 hole C fastser than any other reed. I was just a kid back then and didn't realize that if you played in the key of C a lot, that this was the hazard. That's why I always said (in contradiction to the late great Doug Tate, that chromatics ARE a self destructive instrument and will eventually get 'used up'). Not so with diatonics. At least not for me. I can bend them for years and years and as long as I don't stress the reeds past the point of no return, they can last a long time. So, eventually I started to smoke and therefore never DREW a reed that hard.

With chromos, I was different. I play mostly OUT of the key the harmonica is tuned. I use mainly D, Eb, F, F# (Gb), Bb, and sometimes Ab. I can't play in all the keys (unless I have a chart, and I'm a LOUSY reader), so I tend to favor the draw keys. In this way, one can make the chromo cry more. Not that you can't do it on the blow keys OR blow notes. It's just that I can draw out the timing more on a draw. Like instead of a half rest, I may use a 7/16 or a 9/16, or some other phrasing gimmick. What I try to do is hear what a famous singer would do with a tune. Mainly the singer that was famous FOR that particular tune. Lie Judy Colling on Send in the Clowns, Dionne Warwick on Alfie or A House is Not a Home.

Sooo, heres what I do. FIRST I take a piece of music and study it to see where the enharmonics are. You don't need to read to do this. You can do it by ear while picking your way with the chromo. Once you have established where these enharmonics are, you can plan your crime. What you want to do (most of the time) is to get the notes to flow most freely. Some might say legato. I prefer flow. What 'I' like to do is get the tune accomplished with as little side distraction as possible. I consider distractions as: excessive breath switching, excessive slide work, excessive movement from one hole to another and then (sometimes) back again.

Manys a time when you want to gliss into a starting C note. The problem some people have is that they either undershoot or overshoot the C that they want. What I mean by that is that if you are taking a stairstep passage (in other words UP), and you happen to land on the #4 hole C and then have a rest in there, when you start out again still going up, you may not hit the NEXT note that you want. When going up, you may 'think' that you were on #5 C but were actually SHORT and on the #4 C. So now you will be SHORT on your next note. The same is true when doing a waterfall passage DOWN. You may 'think' you are on the #4 C when, in actuality, you are on the #5 C.

This has been a stumbling block for players for years. So, what I do is to see where the B# will fit instead BECAUSE once you get used to using it, there is no question as to where you are on the chromo. If you miss your B# short, you will be on an A#/Bb and you WILL notice it right away, be able to walk the chromo over and correct it. If you hit the B# LONG, (on the other hand), you will hit a D#/Eb and. again, be able to walk the note over. When messing with the double Cs, the problem is that they are BOTH Cs, and you could be off one hole. (Short on stairstep, long on your waterfall). So, what I advise eveeryone to do is to put the chromo up to your mouth, take it away, put it back, take it away, and repeat this over and over until you are comfortable with hitting the note you want any time you want. Do this BEFORE even trying to play a tune. First and foremost, get the chromo used to your face, and visa versa.

As for the E# (F), that is used mostly to keep from having to switch breaths. There have been numerous passages over the years (especially in classical musics) where fast passages would be very difficult without this handy feature. A good example would be the Trisch Trasch (gallop Polka). There is a run that is 2 blow, 2 blow SLIDE IN, 3 blow. If not for that enharmonic in hole #2, the run would have to be 2 blow, 2 DRAW, 3 blow. That is HARD to do at the speed necessary for this particular tune as the 'jet lag' on the #2 draw would be too great for a person suddenly coming off of a blow note. Try it and see what I mean.

I hope I covered it well enough to be understood.

snokey-joe

----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe and Cass Leone" <leone@xxxxxxxx>
To: <jim.alciere@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 5:38 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] electro lounge



On Jan 4, 2009, at 8:38 AM, jim.alciere@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
(that extra c note throws me off)

Start using the B# instead. Pretend the Cs aren't there. Especially in Dm (my personal favorite key).
smo-joe 
--
Rainbow Jimmy
http://www.spaceanimals.com
http://www.myspace.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l


_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l


_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l


This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.